painted this picture of "St. Francis Preaching to the
Birds," was a little boy, he took care of his father's sheep in the
fields. One day a noted painter, Cimabue, found Giotto drawing a sheep
on a flat rock with colored stones. The picture of the sheep was so
lifelike that the great man asked the boy, Giotto, to go with him and
become an artist. He went, and one day years afterward the pope sent
to Giotto for a sample of his work. Giotto sent him a big round O. It
pleased the pope to find a man so original, and he gave Giotto many
orders for pictures. To-day the saying is "Round as Giotto's O."

[Illustration: Courtesy of Pratt Institute

FIG. 38. ST. FRANCIS PREACHING TO THE BIRDS. GIOTTO. UPPER CHURCH,
ASSISI, ITALY]

THE GOVERNESS

JEAN BAPTISTE SIMEON CHARDIN (1699-1779)

When Chardin began to paint pictures he went into the French homes and
painted pictures of brass pots and kettles, of fruits and vegetables.
Then he took common scenes of life and gave us a number of pictures
showing just what was going on in the homes and back yards.

The French people were not used to having an artist see beauty in the
every-day things they were doing; artists had been painting the rich
for the rich. Everybody began to love the pictures Chardin painted.
This is a very simple story in "The Governess." The child--is it a boy
or a girl?--is now ready to go to school. He--I believe he is a
boy--is hearing some advice, and I do not think he is pleased, for he
has a little frown on his face. His dress is peculiar. The French
children two hundred years ago did not dress as you do to-day. He is
the same kind of a child that you are, I am sure, and you and he would
soon be great friends.

Chardin's color was so wonderful that one of his artist friends cried
out: "O Chardin! it is not white, red, or black that you grind to
powder on your palette; it is the air and the light that you take on
the point of your brush and fix on canvas."

Chardin's pictures are as beautiful and bright to-day as they were
when he painted them.

[Illustration: FIG. 39. THE GOVERNESS. CHARDIN. LIECHTENSTEIN GALLERY,
VIENNA]

THE LAST SUPPER

LEONARDO DA VINCI (1452-1519)

I want you to know the disciples of Jesus just as Leonardo da Vinci
painted them four hundred years ago. Leonardo spent months among the
men of Milan, Italy, looking into their faces and talking with them.
When he began to paint "The Last Supper" he had gathered